Edible alcohol-containing spheres

Abstract

A shelf stable, edible sphere containing alcohol and methods for preparing the same. The edible sphere comprises a liquid and/or gel inner core comprising ethyl alcohol and an outer membrane comprising alginate, wherein the outer membrane coats and encapsulates the liquid and/or gel inner core and wherein the edible sphere is shelf stable for at least one month. The process for preparing the shelf stable, edible sphere comprises combining an alcoholic beverage, a calcium salt, and optionally one or more further components to form a cocktail solution, de-aerating and either freezing the cocktail solution to form a frozen cocktail solution or adding a thickening compound to the de-aerated cocktail solution to form a viscous cocktail solution, immersing the frozen cocktail solution or viscous cocktail solution in a sodium alginate bath at ambient temperature for a period of time to form an edible sphere containing alcohol, and removing the edible sphere containing alcohol from the alginate bath and rinsing it with water to form a shelf stable edible sphere.

1 - 25 . (canceled) 
     
     
         26 . A process for preparing one or more shelf stable, edible spheres, comprising:
 (1) providing a continuously moving alginate solution;   (2) immersing (a) one or more frozen cocktail solutions or (b) one or more viscous cocktail solutions, wherein the one or more frozen or viscous cocktail solutions are de-aerated and comprise a calcium salt, in the continuously moving alginate solution for a period of time to form one or more edible spheres; and   (3) removing the one or more edible spheres from the continuously moving alginate solution and rinsing the one or more edible spheres with water to form one or more shelf stable, edible spheres.   
     
     
         27 . The process of  claim 26 , wherein the continuously moving alginate solution is contained in a developer tank. 
     
     
         28 . The process of  claim 26 , wherein the continuously moving alginate solution is a stream flowing in a sluice. 
     
     
         29 . The process of  claim 26 , wherein the continuously moving alginate solution is maintained at a temperature above ambient temperature. 
     
     
         30 . The process of  claim 28 , wherein the one or more edible spheres are removed from the continuously moving alginate solution via an inclined conveyor comprising a plurality of holes or slots. 
     
     
         31 . The process of  claim 26 , wherein the one or more edible spheres removed from the continuously moving alginate solution are rinsed in a water bath or water spray system. 
     
     
         32 . The process of  claim 31 , wherein the water bath is a water tank or a further sluice containing a continuously moving stream of water. 
     
     
         33 . The process of  claim 32 , wherein the water bath is a further sluice containing a continuously moving stream of water from which the one or more shelf stable, edible spheres are removed via an inclined conveyor comprising a plurality of holes or slots. 
     
     
         34 . The process of  claim 26 , further comprising placing at least one of the one or more shelf stable, edible spheres into a container, topping of the container with storing solution, and capping or sealing the container. 
     
     
         35 . The process of  claim 34 , wherein the container comprises a plurality of shelf stable, edible spheres. 
     
     
         36 . The process of  claim 34 , wherein the container is a single serving container. 
     
     
         37 . The process of  claim 26 , wherein the calcium salt is selected from the group consisting of calcium lactate, calcium lactate gluconate, and any combination thereof. 
     
     
         38 . The process of  claim 26 , wherein the one or more frozen or viscous cocktail solutions further comprises an organic acid selected from the group consisting of ascorbic acid, malic acid, malonic acid, acetic acid, lactic acid, folic acid, gluconic acid, fumaric acid, tartaric acid, propionic acid, and any combination thereof. 
     
     
         39 . The process of  claim 38 , wherein the organic acid is selected from the group consisting of ascorbic acid, malic acid, and any combination thereof. 
     
     
         40 . The process of  claim 26 , wherein the one or more frozen cocktail solutions are semi-spherical in shape. 
     
     
         41 . The process of  claim 26 , wherein the continuously moving alginate solution is a continuously moving sodium alginate solution.